


Kill Them With Kindness

by orphan_account



Category: the GazettE
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Currently Undergoing Complete Overhaul Forgive Me, Eventual Smut, M/M, Probable fluff, Unrequited Love, character driven
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-25
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-10-09 05:20:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10404825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The city was vicious. The syndicates more so. Tokyo was a land of shifting sands, territories that changed hands back and forth at the drop of a hat. This is a story with no sides, just five human beings trying to scrape by.To categorize: A pit fighter, an assassin, the quintessential  mob bosses' brat, a fancy whore  and the small-time doctor who somehow became their sun.





	1. Chapter 1

The arms were thick and unrelenting in their hold. Almost strangling the smaller build in their smothering grasp, growing tighter and tighter each second. The captive tried to tried to thrash his way out of the limbs, but his body was limp and still. A mind's cry translated into empty, soundless air.

_Any minute now, another pair of limbs is going to come into play, and I'll wake up screaming. I know this game._

It was warm, too warm. Like spending the night in a furnace. Accompanied by an infernal vibration. This ringing, piercing sound...

The sound was the key to the transition. It became a comfortable kind of warm, the feeling of sharing a fire or perhaps waking up in someone's arms. Speaking of arms, the one firm around his waist strong and secure. Easily identifiable as a familiar form, out to the world. While the device on his beside rang and rattled with determination, far out of the willing captive's reach.

Ruki groaned. Reality was a whole new nightmare, granted it was lest severe.

"Rei," he called out, nudging his elbow into the other man's side.

In response, Reita pulled the smaller man closer to his torso and let out a small sound.

Not the movement he was hoping for. No amount of wriggling and pushing relaxed the grip on his waist.

 _"Reita._ Move. Or wake the fuck up, you pick!"

More snuggling, more sleepy noises mixing in with the constant throb and screech of the device. Ruki was preparing himself to kick the shin of the practical corpse until the moment the sound ceased.

His sigh of release was cut short by a softer buzz against metal. Luckily, his own device was in arms reach and entirely silent excepting the sound of the vibrations. It was smooth and translucent, a perfect circle that fit snugly in his palm.  His thumb pressed the centre, allowing a voice to stream through his ear implants. Whoever it was was due a sour dose of the venom bubbling in Ruki's stomach.

"Hey, Ruki... Rei isn't picking up. Did he get back from the fight okay?" The voice instantly dampened the firecracker, the grimace on his face softening into a neutral expression.

"You would know if he hadn't," Ruki said, with a gruff husk in his voice. There was no dropping the act, even if he wasn't angry.  "I saw him awhile ago. He's probably just asleep. That better not be the only reason you woke me up at fuck-all o'clock."

The lie was seamless now, leaving his mouth with the ease all others did and not given so much as a second thought.

"It's not, I promise! There's a good reason. I just... can't explain it right now," Kai trailed off with a sigh. A few beats passed in silence, Ruki didn't realise he'd been holding his breath until the other man started to speak again. "Could you come over? There's a.. situation, you know I wouldn't ask unless it was desperate..."

Being mad at Kai wasn't exactly something that anyone was good at. It was a skill no one in their small circle had managed to acquire. Especially not when he sounded so fatigued, voice breaking near the end of the sentence. What kind of night had he had? The small blonde instantly wondered if the clinic was busy. Was this another occasion in which he needed a nurse, too many emergencies for just one man to handle? That would explain calling Reita... But did Kai honestly expect-

The image of a smiling brunette flashed behind Ruki's eyes, a smile and dark circles that indicated the good doctor hadn't slept in a day or so. A regular occurrence.

"Sure, I'm on my way. Do you want me to bring Reita?" Ruki asked, with a small sigh.

"Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you. I owe you one," Kai began, voice surging with hopefulness and further melting any residual ice. Ruki thought of all the times Kai had treated him, of all the wounds closes and sores vanishing. The conclusion that the doctor didn't owe him a damn thing was the only one available, but he said nothing.

"Oh, and yes, if you can find him I would, well... I didn't want to have to call Uruha. The anesthetic probably only has a few hours left so I don't have long to... well..." Kai's sleepless rambles confirmed the smaller man's earlier suspicions. Overdrawn. Overworked. A caretaker who couldn't take care of himself if his _goddamn_ life depended on it.

"He lives across the hall, Kai. I think I can manage. See you in a bit."

Ruki ended the call with yet another audible sigh, placing his device on the bedside table.

"Light the fuck up," he growled, commanding a bright blue light to emit from the small circle.

The next step was simple, yet dreaded.

He craned his neck so that his lips aligned with the shoulder of his sleeping companion and sunk his teeth into the flesh. Hard.

The result was a body tensing around him, jolting as a waking state was _finally_ reached.

"What! What is it?" Reita cried out, withdrawing his arm from the smaller man.

Free, Ruki eased into a sitting position and pulled his knees to his chest. Stretching. An ache that was more than the usual throbbed delightfully in his muscles, the perfect reminder of a wonderful session when paired with the vision of his partner's muscular torso. A dainty hand reached out to trace one of the silvery scars on the taller blonde's side.

Almost affectionately.

"Get up. Kai called. We're going to the clinic," Ruki explained, in his stunted, tired way.

At the mention of _his precious Kai_ the bleached-blonde jumped upwards, pushing the sheets from his bare body.

"Is something wrong?" Reita asked, his dark eyes widening, enough for Ruki to avert his gaze. For the thousandth time he wished that he could find it in his heart to hate them both. Reita, for not being able to love him and Kai for being so damn blind.

The small man propelled himself off the bed, fishing around for his shirt in the sea of clothes covering the floor. Ruki scowled, stormy eyes spotting his pants first. He shimmied into the skin-tight fabric. Silver matte didn't quite feel appropriate at four in the morning, but it wasn't as if he could be bothered walking the hundred metres to his own one-room residence and digging through his closet for something less flashy. It would take too long anyway.

"Probably. I don't see why he doesn't just call _Uruha_ if it is," he answered,  glaring into space. If their friend had simply called the problem-solver, he was almost certain everything would be more simple. Ideals. Morals were the worst bondage of human existence as far as Ruki was concerned. Not that he could claim to be free of them. Not entirely. Not yet.

Glancing over to find the other man, he half expected to find him putting on his loose black slacks with all the coherency of a midnight drunkard. Instead, a fully dressed (but incomparably bed-headed) man met his eyes with a sense of sadness.

"Yes you do..." Reita said, fidgeting with the band over his near non-existent nose.

 _Damn him._ How could someone so entirely oblivious, dogged and unquestioning be so observant. Always calling the harsher man out on his idiosyncrasies. Noticing the little things, the way Kai's voice would often tremble as he said the name just as he easily noticed the tones Ruki used when he was lying to himself.  Yet, he was mostly more animal than man, fighting for a living without a second thought. Covered in scars from careless behaviour. So subliminally stupid yet subtle and tender-

His own train of thought was cut off by his own snort, as he noticed the painfully obvious.

"Your shirt's on backwards. Fucking moron."

___________________________________________

Kai glared at the mark, as if he could muster the force of will to wish it away. Three gleaming, golden spheres stared right back at him. Impolitely refusing to remove themselves from the pale stomach of the stranger on his couch.

Gingerly, the doctor pulled the blood-stained tank top back down over his patients tattoo. For the umpteenth time that evening his chocolate-coloured hues swept over the languid body before him. Lithe and supple, long limbs with soft and slender hands attached. Unblemshed, unscarred but for the spheres now hidden by the crimson-spotted white fabric. Even his hair was soft, a long and silky black that was messily strewn over his tranquil face. A sleeping prince if ever there was.

He was _beautiful._ The kind of handsome that caused the stirrings of delirium in the back of his mind. Or was that just the weight of the fog laden under Kai's eyes, the heaviness growing in his body with each passing second. The rational mind urged him to move from his kneeling position and resume his pacing. Make some kind of buzz-sludge that would keep him awake, do anything to prevent the lull of just a moment's rest. Just a moment...

A moment long enough to dream.

_'Help!'_

_A voice gurgled, blood pouring thick from the wide and shapely lips. It stained the stranger's fingers as he limped forwards, the beautiful raven-haired creature who seemed so much more than a man..._

_'Help, help me. No one else can...'_

_The hands, they reached for the brunette's body, smearing his forearms with the crimson. It was a lovely, vivid colour, especially given the contrast of that pale and seamless skin. Kai was mesmerised as the distance was closed, their bodies now pressing together. In abandon._

_'Please... Please...'_

_It was a desperate whisper, and despite his best efforts the doctor found himself gazing upwards. Chin tugged, more liquid smearing on his face as he fell into eyes dark and dreamy. The stranger was taller yet somehow their noses were touching._

_'Kai, please...'_

_This gave the shorter one pause. He cocked his head to the side and tried to draw answers forth from the fog of his mind. A fog that swirled around both figures, pushing them further together._

_'Wait. How do you know my name?' he asked, as his fingers curled into the other man's shirt._

_The answer was a smile. An open mouthed kiss. Hot, burning lips that moved against his own. A growl to stifle the helpless cry that Kai emitted, as his mouth began to fill with a bitter and metallic substance. It was thick and warm, sliding down his throat until the blissful point had been reached. Gagging and choking, unable to breathe, he could swear he felt a smile into the kiss he could barely keep up with. Why did he try?_

_He was drowning. Drowning._

_Yet, pulled from the water. Not by the stranger, he was nowhere to be found. Just shiny, shiny pants and a voice much deeper than it should have been..._

"- so you brought us all the way over here because of some guy on your couch. Lovely. Hey. Are you even listening to me? Ugh. I think he's out to it. Reita, could you- Yeah. Thanks."

Kai hadn't realised that his eyes were open until he had truly begun to see. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and tried to sit up, aided by the calloused hands somehow on his shoulders.

It was always incredible that someone so small as the man in front of him could be such an imposing figure with his arms across his chest, even while glittering more brightly than the emerald city. The doctor found himself shrinking back from the curious gaze, and taking a deep breath to steady himself.

"Start talking, Kai. What's going on?"

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first time writing fanfiction in years and years and years... But I love the GazettE, and I love dystopia and just couldn't resist trying it out. Plus, Kai needs love, and he's going to get a lot of it in this fic.
> 
> I would love whatever feedback you have to give! Next chapter the plot will get moving, and you'll meet Uruha :3


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a matter of life and death is debated, and a patient doesn't remember all that he should.

It reminded Aoi of stasis, the way sensations returned in a singular fashion. One by one. The first noticeable awakening was that of thought, the ability to acknowledge that he had been unconscious and was slowly coming to wake. Then, strands of something brushing against the skin of his arm. A tickle and an itch, and something in between. He began to feel a pulsing in his temples and a dull but throbbing ache in his shin, all of this before his eyes and ears were able to open.  Muffled sound came next, it as if his body had to attune itself to the right frequency, slowly turning the noise from obscured to clear as crystal.  
  
"-a human life. We are talking about a human life. I don't care who he is or who he works for! The fact is, this man is flesh, blood, body and soul. Same as you. Same as me. Same as Reita. There has to be another option. That's why I called you here, I thought at least one of you would understand..."  
  
The first was a voice he had heard before. Somewhere. Somehow. The last memory he could find was one of pain, insurmountable pain and the certainty of death. The rain had beat down, stirring the stench in the alleyway. And the man, the assailant, was gone...  
  
"I'm not here to debate ethics. The facts are simple. He's obviously a triad high up, I've seen that sigil before too many times. Oh, and case you hadn't noticed, it's practically a fucking _hobby_ of theirs to shut down places like this. Where people like you work there asses of to help those who they deem unworthy. It's not about life and death, Kai. It's about _us_ and _them_. And he's not just one of them, he could be a literal fucking boss for all we know," a second voice chimed in, harsh and deep in comparison to the gentle tones of the first. This one, the injured man didn't know. But it seemed the voice knew a certain something about him...  
  
_'Whatever you do, don't open your eyes.'_   The General's voice played in the back of Aoi's mind, though he was sure it was his subconscious overcompensating again. I never did pay enough attention to the lessons.  
  
Still, the self-given advice made sense. He had an open invitation to listen and wait for the opportune moment.  
  
"Reita..." The first voice spoke again, sounding desperate. Aoi decided, he liked this voice best. It wasn't trying to kill him.  
  
"Oh, yes, play that card. The pleading voice and the big eyes as if you were still a damn kid in the pens. _Fucking stupid._ I'm calling Uruha." The second voice was practically spitting venom, with all the grace of a feral cat. Reita?  
  
The nice voice interjected again, sounding closer than before.  
  
"Ruki, don't. I agree with you. But... I'll do it. Uruha doesn't have to know. I can take him outside, quick and quiet and take care of the mess," a new voice suggested, decidedly Reita. Then the catty one was Ruki. Two names but no faces. Not yet.  
  
Stealthily squinting, he was able to make out three figures. As expected. Less predictable was the open doorway in his line of sight, teasing glinting steel tables and various ancient apparatuses Aoi had only ever seen in vids. Cracks in the walls. Blood on the sheets. It belied the normality of the sofa he lay upon and the futon leaning against the wall opposite him.  
  
"Wha- No! He's my patient," Nice Voice, a brunette, replied in force. "We're not killing him. There is some other option, I know there is."  
  
The petite and startlingly sparkly blonde immediately identifiable as Feral Cat growled.  
  
"What other option? There are no other options!" Ruki snapped, storming over to the brunette. He grabbed Nice Voice by the collar, pulling him down to eye level.  
  
Aoi cleared his throat, startling all but the immovable warrior.  
  
"You could wipe my memories with neuro-stims. It's less extreme than murder. Or, conversely, you could go down the old fashioned route. Tie my up and force me into submission, that kind of thing. Still violent, potentially kinky and altogether less costly," Aoi offered his second best suggestions, a lazy smirk plastered across his face. As he spoke, he found his voice was slightly sluggish from whatever drug the doctor had used, and laced with the rasp of fatigue. "Or, you know, we could engage in an actual conversation in which you fine gentlemen could enlighten me to exactly what is going on. Maybe ,we could reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Outrageous, I know. But possible."  
  
His glassy gaze properly washed over the figures the room. The unreadable stare of Reita, stance firm and ready to strike. Ruki's venomous glare as he let go of his friend (Aoi surmised they must have been at least a little bit friendly), slowly backing away towards the aforementioned warrior's figure. And the third. The other.  
  
"You're awake?!" The man in the white coat, the doctor(?) spoke, a smile lighting up his weary-seeming face. For a moment, Aoi's awareness of the threat on his life dwindled from flame to coals. He was fully taken in by the sweet face and dimpled smile belonging to the nice voice. So very pleased, so very pretty... "Of course you're awake. That level of lucidity implies you've been for quite some- No, don't try and move. Your leg is broken. You'll uh, notice in... how long have you been awake for? Soon. Soon.  I only had enough stims to fix the internal damage..." he rambled, trailing off with no small degree of concern.

"You wasted the last of your stims on this asshole?!" The comment was made by the tiny firecracker that caused a tinge of red in the doctor's cheeks.

If not for the growing, crackling pain in his leg, the patient would have found it endearing.

"No! Of course I didn't. I ration them, so I have an allotted amount of each patient. Usually it's enough but the damage to-"  
  
"Aoi."

A gentle smile was given to the interjector, rousing warmth amidst pain and the General's voice in his mind. _'Moronic child. Don't be taken in by a pretty face. Beauty fades, simply look to your mother and see.'_

"-The damage to Aoi was quite severe," The kindly one finished. Of course, nothing seemed to be enough to satisfy the man in the glittering pants.

Obnoxious as the splitting ache. A living, breathing, speaking crime against fashion, whose face betrayed a pure and pernicious hatred.

"Figures, given that he's a fucking mob boss."

What should have been phrased as a question by Aoi's reckoning was instead a firm statement. So convincing, he could hear someone laughing in the back of his mind.

"A boss? Slums, no! You've got it all wrong," he began, eyes now truly wide open. Instinctual denial the General would have chided as a missed opportunity. It seemed the brush with death had brought his father's voice to the forefront of his mind again.

The irony was not lost on him.

"I'm a mob brat. Property if we're getting technical. You as good as rescued a street rat. Which is what you normally do, isnt it?" Aoi asked, head cocked to the side.

A curious animal he was, even while muddled. If this was an outlaw clinic, he was surely pretty deep in the slums? A long way from Shibuya...

That was for sure.

The brunette nodded and cleared his throat, moving from his somewhat cowering position to stand nearer to his patient.

"Scum. Scum of the earth that's going to get us all killed, that's what you are. _Property_ with a golden brand, I'm not listening to this bullshit," Ruki ranted, running a hand through his hair rather vigorously. "Fucking stupid, taking in every stray you see and wasting your supplies on this filthy wealthy bratty bastard who couldn't care less about people like us! I meant what I said, I'll call Uruha!"

Ragged breath left he smaller man's mouth, causing his silent friend to place a hand on his shoulder. A transfixing exchange, especially considering the dark speckles spotting Aoi's vision.

The name kept him afloat, and staring straight up at the feral one from his immobile position.

"You can't be talking about the Uruha..." Aoi marveled, lips parted and brow creased as he attempted to summon more coherent thought.

Sand falling through the cracks. Rain, rain poured as he was shoved into the concrete, ribs cracking at the force of the blow-

The snarl that had previously seemed a permanent fixture of Ruki's face curled into a vicious smile, sumptuous lips twisted in poison.

"Oh, we are. The infamous, indomitable Uruha. He'd end your miserable life without so much as lifting a finger..."

"Stop it. Kai's right," Reita spoke with resounding depth, and a reason that penetrated the room. Kai was naturally compliant, surprisingly even Ruki heeled at the call. Still snarling, naturally.

A new name. It echoed around the empty cavern inside his head.

"Kai... Kai... that's a nice name. You know it's strange, I can't... feel..." My legs. Am I breathing? Why can't I speak? Kai?! Kai? Why can't I open my eyes?

Body rigid, thoughts fading. Only a lovely voice remained, guiding him down the dark and dreamless spiral.

"It's alright, Aoi. Deep breaths. It's a side effect of the stims, your body just needs time to heal..."

***

Eyes were heavy set, unable to lift. There was no telling how long it had been, since his body had dragged him under again. And this time the waking was different.

It was the pain, searing and sparking tears from under closed eyes. Worse than the volts he'd recieved for misbehaviour, for it held a longevity he'd never known. Pain ceased to be a game when it was to stick around.

 _Hello_ , the break seemed to say, in it's voice a throbbing like the morse code of old. _I'm here to stay._

"-Just keep your mouth shut and let me handle it. You can't lie to your own reflection, let alone Uruha." That voice tensed his body, instantly identifiable as the sparkly man who wanted him dead. Except... gentle in it's gruffness.

Compliant.

Aoi wished he could have opened his eyes. Seen the rejection that that smug face.

"You... you'll really help me?" Kai said, coursing with hope. Enough of it to make any sane, modern man feel physically ill. Aoi was among their numbers, thoroughly mystified. "Thank you! Thank you, so much! For a while  there I was worried-"

"I don't care. Let's skip the the part where I say that's what friends are for, and you thank me, and cut to me dragging my sorry ass back to bed and get a few hours in before my next client," Ruki said, presumably his stomping footsteps were heard headed for the door.

"Oh, of course, I'm sorry for-"

A growl. Another set of footsteps. Ruki, again, he seemed a nasty piece of work

"Shut up. We're leaving. Take care," he said,

The stoic seeming Reita spoke next, as many words as were expected. "Be careful, Kai."

Aoi's vision returned in time for him to catch the beam of the man who had (presumably) saved his life.

"I will, you know I always am. You too. Thank you both so  much. I panicked, I might have... well you know," Kai said, waving the mismatched pair out the door.

But Aoi, he didn't know. He didn't know anything. Not even the name of the man who had bled him dry, and the search for the memory lead him downwards.

Drowning.

***

The next time Aoi awoke, he was lying his back atop a futon. A head rested against his shoulder, the source of the soft snore that broke the silence. If his face hadn't felt near to falling off, he would have smiled.

It was the first time in ten years he'd woken up to someone fully clothed and peaceful. Someone sleeping, softly and soundly with no desire to wake and take from him. There was no scramble to remember the name of the one night wonder, or rush to jump from the bed and struggle into his clothes.

Just a general gratitude for being alive. The man beside him (Aoi guessed he'd passed while attending to him) had saved his life twice, so it seemed. He had never thought to be thankful for laying on a cheap futon in a barebones room, his back's protest said as much...

How did he end up so far from his cushioned apartments in the city centre? Surrounded by all the best bars and worst people. There was no memory, no clarity aside from the aforementioned recollection of pain and rain...

_Bzzt. Bzzt._

Kai's hand flew from it's unwitting rest on his patient's thigh, to the sphere beyond Aoi's sight. He rolled onto his side, still close enough for Aoi to hear the whispers.

"Mmm. Uruha? What is it? Are you hurt?" The Uruha. It was still difficult to believe. The most prestigious assassin in the entirety of Japan was a slummer? Or at least had originated there. "Of course it is. Everything is fine. Why wouldn't it be?" And Kai, this illegal operator seemed to know him. Whisper desperately to him in the night. It was strange to say the least.

Whatever Uruha had said had caused the brunette to pause for a good long while.

"You're imagining things. I'm alone. Well, there's a patient here but does that really count?" Another pause. A sigh. "I know, I know. I'll sleep, I promise. You too. Doctor's orders."

Orders that sounded more like gentle suggestions. The way the doctor's lithe body had begun to relax, legs stretching tentatively in an almost feline way. Even in the low light, Aoi had a rather nice view. Comprehensive. He was able to take in the body language, the way the other man's every muscle froze all at one.

"I... I love you too. Goodnight Uru..."

Mystery solved, yet enlarged. Aoi was lucid enough to wonder, but not enough to ask.

The words were followed by a small clatter, Kai rolling back onto his back with eyes closed and lips parted. Aoi knew he should have said something, anything, simply to alert the other man of his lucidity. Between the weight of fatigue and a morbid curiosity, he lay still and feigned the breath of sleep until it claimed him once more.

***  
"Doctor? Kai?"

Light streamed through small, square window. Further alighting the barren, emptiness of the room. Distinctly devoid of other human beings, though a glance to the side revealed new additions. A plate of buttered toast and a note. Not holographic or augmented, simply synthesized ink on plain paper.

Fascinating. Partly. The feeling wrestled with waves nausea. Walls moved around him, or so it seemed, and the more he focused on the words the more violent it became.

_'Gone to do a house call. Will answer all of your questions when I get back, I promise. Don't move your legs. And don't panic! You're safe and everything will be okay._

_\- Kai'_

Aoi smiled. It was involuntary.  He doubted Kai could answer many of his questions given they were caused by his own lapse of memory, but the promise was reassuring. Answers would be found. One at a time.

_'PS. Eating will help the nausea.'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thanks for reading :) The set up is taking a lot longer than I expected, sorry! I do promise there will be fluff and action alike very soon. This is all new territory for me haha. Also this chapter took a lot longer to write than I envisioned because I got distracted with a Reituki one-shot I will be posting sometime soon! (One with a much less involved setting and plot heh).


	3. Chapter 2.5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very short chapter, more like an interval. And a very overdue one at that!

The final dregs of breath trickled out of an open, gaping mouth. It was his favourite part. Long past writhing and gasping and quite beyond spitting curses, burning hatred replaced with a flicker of final fear. Discolouration had begun to take hold, complimented by the vivid darkening purple marks surfacing on the flesh of the neck. An angry echo of the way his hands had closed and constricted the throat until no life could remain.

A surge of pleasure moved through the killer, hands clamping down further on the bruising area. It wasn't often he was allowed to leave a mark. Inhaling through his nostrils, he allowed his eyes to close. The experience was more than worth relishing. Instruction to send a message was a license to indulge in painful, personal deaths without the need for stealth or the usual brutal brand of creativity. Loud but efficient. All thoughts that clouded his euphoria, his attempt to clear his mind in vain. Flashes of the fear in a face he loved, flickers of a bottled desperation.

It was ruined. Imperfect. Paradise was touched, but barely.

The moment was over; the life was squandered.

Tremendous waste. Not just of a moment, the killing was an appalling squandering of his true talents. But Uruha didn't mind. Not really. At least this way, when the murder hit the news holos and swirled around the city - Kai wouldn't suspect him. Not a bit.

The warmth of that thought swallowed any distaste and discomfort. To be less of what he was in the eyes of his love, wasn't that a just and lasting reward? A currency worth debasing himself for, no mistake.

Dropping his handiwork with a resounding thud, he dared to hope the goodwill wouldn't burn as fast as life had left his victim, or as the credits received in payment would burn up.

***

"Refil, please."

The words tumbled out breathless, barely heard beneath the bass vibrating through the steel-framed stools. A buzz less pleasant but just as present as the gentle warmth of the amber liquid he awaited to ingest.

Each moment without was another intake of endless information. What lay behind the neon perspiring congregation groping and grinding wherever there was space to 'dance'; the paid performers in varieties of punked up and pure alike that curved around their poles and podiums like serpentine vessels of sex appeal; the mingles cries of joy and despair as men lost and gained before the live holo-viewing of the latest pit-fights.

Out of all six visible exists, the one to his left was closest and involved the least casualties if the darkened visor and glowing, tequila-green streaks through his hair didn't do the trick.. The bottom right, however, allowed the easy decapitation of a lightly-wanted pimp, and a few extra credits never hurt. However the structural integrity of the bar-table was quite the variable given the chipped paint revealing rickety bone.

Uruha was at the sixth exit plan when the glass began to fill again. Even though the golden nectar poured from a bottle attached to a hand, the choking need made it hard to recognize the presence of another human. All ambience, all exits, all bounties replaced by the burning desire.

A deep inhale brought the fumes flying in, first and foremost the scent of his rocket fuel. Eyes closed before looking up. New meat, it had to be. Uruha never forgot a face, no matter how hard he tried.

This one was some pierced and pink-haired kid, dolled and dressed in home-sewn scraps of pinks and black frills. The length of eyelashes and glossy peach peach lips did well at distracting from the pronounced lump in his neck, and the purpling bruises under it. Yet no effort was made to hide. Telling of more than Uruha wanted to know.

"So you're it, huh. The infamous one," The Kid huffed, proud of his own observance.

Uruha chuckled, cause and effect.

"You're his favourite at the moment. I can feel the eyes from across the room. Theirs. His," Uruha replied. Monotonous.

The bass thumped harder, one song melding into another as displeasure blossomed on the bartender's sweet face. Not the sweetest face he'd known, not by any means. Kai won that prize. Even in distress, even brow furrowed and lips trembling there was no sweeter creature.

With that thought, he downed half the glass.

"It won't last. You should leave while you can," Uruha finished, noting the visible gulp. The way the boy looked to the side. Fear.

The rest of the sweet salvation burned and tingled down his throat, leaving only the dregs in the bottom of the tinted glass.

The arm squeezing around his shoulders was no surprise. Uruha's body remained stiff, unyielding to the wiry, ink-swirled pathetic excuse for a limb. 

"There you are, Ruha. Isn't he cute? Heh. I'm glad you came when I called, kitten.” The slow, salacious speech of the proprietor had a way of winding around a person. Hybrid child of creeping vines and ink-black tentacles, swirling in smoke.  


Uruha grunted. "What do you want?"

Yellowed teeth turned to face him, in a crooked Cheshire smile. The owner of the grin was appropriately studded and painted in both temporary and permanent ways. Eyes without whites, a swirling black abyss. Nausea reared it's head, at the sheer vanity of it all. Tsuzuku was in no uncertain terms, a physical proclamation of danger, a reflection of his own miasmic, unmeasurable ego.  


"What do I want?” Tsuzuku flipped his carefully curated curls, nails digging into Uruha’s arm as he spoke.  “I want to help you get what you want. Or at least, I owe it to your wifey to want that. Which is what I want to speak about, in no uncertain terms."

The assassin nodded, an invitation for Tsuzuku to continue potentially wasting his precious time. Beats of silences passed, the inane grin did not.

“Go  _ on. _ ”

The grip on his shoulders slipped away, dandy half-dancing his way to the other side of the bar. Uruha gathered it was for the purpose of leaning over the counter, the dramatic thud of elbows on the faux-wood and widening of eyes. He was right.

"When you were cleaning the shitstain of Shiroyama, you missed a spot. The youngest one. He's still alive. Not kicking, but quite alive in the capable hands of your dear Kai.” 

Masks dropped. Uruha’s fists clenched, nostrils flared and lips pursed. 

Tsuzuku’s serpentine body twisted, tremored with his own cackles. 

“Ah, my friend. It’s so good to see you suffering! You carry the look with such grace, you know. You’re  _ welcome. _ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is currently undergoing a huge plot re-haul and restructure, as I had no idea what I was doing upon starting it! As most of you can probably tell. Anyway, my apologies for being so lousy at updating, I promise this story isn't forgotten or abandoned! Just being re-worked entirely. Thank you for reading and for your support, feedback is always welcome.


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